City expects to end fiscal year with $750,000 more revenue than had been forecast

Lake Elsinore’s annual operating budget is reaping about three-quarters of a million dollars more than forecast, according to a midyear update scheduled for the City Council’s review today.

The council meets at 7 p.m. at the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District’s board room, 31315 Chaney St.

Based on figures from July 1 through the end of December, the city should be up about $750,000 more than projected when the 2012-13 fiscal year ends June 30. Spending is expected to be about $190,000 more than first planned.

“We’re more than on track,” said Mayor Bob Magee, who sits on the city’s budget committee. “Our conservative approach to forecasting and spending has kept us in the black. While other jurisdictions are struggling, we’ve been able to keep a healthy budget and a healthy reserve, and all indications are that we’re going to get better over the next year.”

The brightening revenue picture comes after a protracted period of dwindling resources and severe cutbacks at City Hall a result of the national recession’s squeeze on sales tax, property tax and development.

This year’s revenue in the city’s general fund, the source for daily operations, was projected at $25.4 million, somewhat higher than anticipated in recent years, but about $2.5 million down from what Lake Elsinore actually took in during 2011-12, according to the midyear report.

In addition to the increase in annual recurring revenue such as sales and property tax, the city also expects to add more than $830,000 to its general fund from one-time sources — mostly money transfers stemming from the state’s termination of redevelopment agencies, including Lake Elsinore’s.

With the additions, general fund revenue is expected to total $27 million by the end of the fiscal year.

A big factor in the upswing is a burgeoning coffer from building permit fees. The city anticipates about a half-million dollars from those fees more than projected — a 67 percent increase.

In a brief presentation to the city’s Planning Commission last week, City Manager Grant Yates alluded to the rising trend in building activity.

“We’re estimating we’re going to do 730 single-family (housing) starts this year,” Yates said. “That’s a huge number for us.”

In contrast, Magee said, the city issued about half that in the previous year.

The rising tide primarily stems from home sales in Canyon Hills, a developing subdivision in eastern Lake Elsinore, and Summerly, a master-planned community in southern Lake Elsinore near the city’s minor-league baseball stadium, The Diamond.

“You look out over the county of Riverside and we are one of the hottest building markets right now,” Magee said. “Talk about green shoots and positive economic news — we’re going to be the poster child for that.”